If you can’t beat them, buy them out.

I apologize ahead of time for the link to mainstream reporting on beer, but I find this interesting. Maybe because in 2011 Anheuser-Busch InBev (aka Budweiser) bought my once local brewpub and hang out, Goose Island in Chicago.

I’ve long proposed that Budweiser could produce beer better than many successful craft brewers if it were economically viable for them. Their short-lived American Ale was a decent amber ale, even while still attempting to appeal to the masses.

But with Budweiser brands losing interest with younger consumers, they’ve decided to take back some of craft beer’s 11% market share not by beating them, but by buying them. So far $200 million worth of them.

I may never want to drink a Lime-a-Rita, but I’ll also never turn down a Goose Island Bourbon County Stout or Elysian Pumpkin Ale.